Oculus Rift VR headset aims to be Kickstarter funded

Oculus Rift, a virtual reality head-mounted display (HMD) designed by Palmer Luckey and backed by John Carmack, will see its Kickstarter appeal begin around July 19, according to the designer.

In a post on the Meant to be Seen virtual reality forum, Oculus RIFT designer Palmer Luckey said that the Kickstarter fund for the VR headset project should start on or around July 19.

The intention is for the Kickstater campaign to coincide with both QuakeCon and gamescom, further raising awareness and giving additional opportunity for the tech to be showcased.

The initial run of Rift VR headsets will be aimed at enthusiasts, with the unit expected to cost in the region of $500.

The Rift HMD will feature a modest spec, with the display offering 640 x 800 for each eye, but Luckey suggested that after the kit is made available, “development of a higher res, well polished consumer head mount is going to go forward at a lightning pace.”

To give an indication of the ultimate target that Luckey is setting himself with the Rift, he enthused:

“Imagine an HMD with a massive field of view and more pixels than 1080p per eye, wireless PC link, built in absolute head and hand/weapon/wand positioning, and native integration with some (if not all) of the major game engines, all for less than $1,000 USD. That can happen in 2013!”

Luckey is discussing support for the tech with a number of video game developers and publishers, including: Valve, id, Bethesda, Epic, Crytek and Unity. DOOM: BFG Edition has already been designed to run on the device.